Thursday, June 21, 2012

The first page by Terry Burns

The purpose
of the first page is simple – to get the reader to turn the page and move on
down in the book. It has to be about the story, of course, but it is even more
about hooking the reader into the book and selling the book.

In my own
writing the first page is not the first thing I write but the last thing. I
consider my first couple of chapters as temporary, they may or may not go into
the book or if they do will probably need to be rewritten after I am really
familiar with the story and the characters. Then when I am through and happy
with it I go back and say “Okay, now how do I get them off this page?”

Readers don’t
really care about the weather or the setting until they have decided they are
going to read, then we can set the scene for them. What do I like to see on a
first page? An action initiated that is not completed, curiosity aroused and
not satisfied, a question posed and not answered, anything that begins on the
page but is not completed until the next page.

While an
agent or editor may not reject a book on the basis of just a first page, most of
them want the page to be compelling. They know a majority of readers standing at a
book rack pull a book down and read the back cover copy and the first page. The
object is to get them to turn that page and read a little further into the
book, because that’s when they will carry it up to the checkout stand. And
that’s why first pages are so important.

13 comments:

One of my favorite Edgar Allen Poe stories is The Fall of the House of Usher. You may recall that it begins, “During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.” Obviously, Poe didn’t agree that readers don’t care about weather and setting until they’ve decided to read more.

I’m a very visually oriented person. If a writer doesn’t set the scene for me quickly, he’s lost me. It isn’t enough for me to know that two people are talking; I want to know what is going on around them.

I want to meet a character I think I'm going to like and start getting clues as to what's different about that person. I'm highly character driven. If I think the person is going to be boring ors someone I can't relate to, I won't read on.

I like your blunt assessment that the first couple chapters are temporary. Although I enjoyed the first two chapters of my current project, the reality was that they were too slow for a suspense novel. I totally scrapped chapter 2, proceeded to cut the first six pages of chapter 1, then condensed and rewrote that first chapter several times before I got it to glisten.

I think cutting and polishing is essential for both sculptors and writers. :)

I don't purposely look at my first chapter as temporary, but I have rewritten every first chapter after I've finished every book. Because when I know how the story ends, I know what questions I need to raise in the first chapter. I think it's great advice for us to not sweat over that first chapter too much, knowing it will change. I've known people who write the first three chapters over and over and can't ever move on.

Timothy, I love that opening. But it's not just weather. It's mood, and it's character. I'm with you, though: I like the scene to be set. I like to find myself in a real world. That's the first thing that draws me into a story.

Ah Tim, I can always count on you to look at every post differently. And yes, that scene is a classic. The problem is that most classics are literary fiction and literary fiction you have all the time in the world to set the scene, to get verbose and flowery, because literary readers have different expectations. Back in the days of the classics there was no competition with a book someone brought home, no TV, no movies to go to, they brought it home to READ and were willing to devote whatever time was necessary for the plot to develop at whatever pace it developed. Today's genre readers do not feel that way, they want to be pulled into the story immediately or they pick up the next book and sample it. The sad truth is that if the classics were submitted to today's editors they would probably be rejected. You may disagree with what I have in my post or may not like it, but the truth is that most agents and editors will look on a first page very much like this.

You are right Terry. There is such a tiny market these days for Literary pieces. We now live in a world of sound bites and flash fiction. I loved what you shared with us Timothy. Beautiful.But if an author wants their book to be read, they need to write to the market to a large degree without sacrificing their voice. I rented the now old movie classic, Stepford Wives, to watch with my son. We then planned to go to movie theater to see the new one together. On the way to pick up the video, I built up the film, telling him how trilling it was. We settled in to watch it and about 1/2 way through, I turned it off. It moved so slow I became bored with it. In a few short years my preference for a slow building plot had changed. Times have changed and writing has to with it.

Terry and Diana, I agree with that and I’m no proponent of trying to write in the style of the classics. The sad truth is that some of those writers were getting paid by the word and they wrote like it. If anything, I’m one of the worst for wanting authors to get to the action quickly. But I see that as all the more reason to use weather. Weather allows us to set the scene with very few words and move on to what the characters are doing in that weather very quickly.

Very sound point, Tim, but does it over-ride the fact that most editors and agents are saying not to do it? It adds interest to a blog when you take a counter point to everything that is said - as long as some less experienced writers don't take it to heart and get a submission rejected that maybe should not have been turned down.

I can relate to the STEPFORD WIVES example. I was going to read my children THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, because it was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. Oh, my. We got through only two chapters. I couldn't get over all the description. So sad. I loved that book. I'm afraid I the Internet has given me a short attention span.

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Joyce Hart, Owner and principal agent

Joyce Hart, owner and principal agent of Hartline Literary Agency has been a literary agent for more than a decade. She was formerly the vice president of marketing of an inspirational publishing company and as the president of Hartline Marketing has nearly thirty-two years of successful experience marketing and promoting books. Joyce has been a pioneer in selling high-quality fiction to the inspirational market and has built an excellent rapport with leading inspirational publishers. A member of ACFW, and the National Association of Professional Women, Joyce is a graduate of Open Bible College, Des Moines, IA now merged with Eugene Bible College in Eugene, Oregon. Joyce is based at Hartline Literary's Pittsburgh headquarters.

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Diana currently lives in Asheville NC. A Bible College major in Missions and Anthropology, Diana has been a medical missionary to Haiti, a women's speaker and bible study leader. One of her life's highlights has been teaching apologetics to high school students as preparatory for college. Avid reader and intuitive editor, Diana's represents nonfiction and well written fiction. She has a passion for getting great writers published.

Jim Hart, Agent

Jim Hart is looking for authors who can write unique and engaging fictional suspense, romance, women’s fiction, historical fiction and some sci-fi. Jim is also interested in non-fiction regarding church growth, Christian living, and self-help. Keep in mind that non-fiction topics require a certain level of credentials, experience and expertise. The author will need an appropriate platform to present a non-fiction proposal.

Currently Jim is not looking at children’s, young adult or Biblical fiction proposals.

He holds a degree in Production Journalism and worked for twenty years in direct mail advertising before taking a job with an urban social services agency, where he worked for twelve years. All during his professional career, Jim has served with the local church doing youth ministry and music/worship ministry. He is a credentialed minister with the Assemblies of God, and serves part-time as Worship Pastor in his local church in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

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Linda is an experienced editor, reviewer and writer, and for a couple of years was a final reader for Wild Rose Press, then for White Rose Publishing and she worked as an editorial assistant for Hartline Agent Terry Burns. She has judged for numerous contests including the Genesis for the American Christian Fiction Writers, as well as the Emily Award for the West Houston Chapter of the Romance Writers of America. She has been on the faculty for Faithwriters.com annual conference, Maranatha, and is slated for numerous others in 2013. Linda understands writers because she's a writer herself with 4 books releasing in 2013.linda@hartlineliterary.comhttp://lindaglaz.blogspot.com/

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